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April 12, 2017 - Melody Jennings Bowers

Why is iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn Disrupting the Norm?

Here at Virtual Collective, we are building and growing and evolving and thriving for one key reason: our iFundWomen campaign. Thanks to the hands-on coaching and support from the team at iFundWomen our project was funded three weeks into our campaign. Which is why we felt it was the perfect time to interview iFundWomen founder Karen Cahn to find out more about what led to the founding of iFundWomen, her thoughts on digital culture and, obviously, why she thinks data matters. Enjoy!

As Karen Cahn says it, she was born on the internet.

“I was one of those Gen-Xers who was in college when email became popular,” she explains, “and I’ve only ever really worked in the internet.”

Indeed, the iFundWomen founder has spent her entire career in the digital space, working at heavy hitters like Google, YouTube, AOL, and Salon.com to name a few.

And while she enjoyed supportive communities of female co-workers who worked alongside her in media sales, she is quick to acknowledge that that sort of support wasn’t as present on the tech side of the digital world. “I know that my sisters on the engineering side had very different experiences,” Karen shares, referring to the largely male-dominated tech industry, which she says is still, in large part, a “good old bros club.”

Which, in fact, was the impetus that led her to launch iFundWomen.

iFundWomen Crowdfunding Website Homepage Image

She looked specifically for crowdfunding sites for women. And when she couldn’t find any, she decided to build one.

“When we did our first crowdfunding campaign in 2016, I realized how little coaching, mentoring, and information there was available to entrepreneurs in general, let alone female entrepreneurs. Crowdfunding can be confusing, and it’s hard to raise money in general, let alone with no human help to ask questions to or to guide you along the way,” she says.  “Very quickly into our crowdfunding campaign, I figured out that it was just about having basic sales skills. Truly, it’s just sales. Selling people things they want to buy, through your crowdfunding campaign, as a way to fund your business. If you prepare and you have a community and coaching, then it’s do-able.”

That Kickstarter experience led her to the internet where she looked specifically for crowdfunding sites for women. And when she couldn’t find any, she decided to build one.

“Silicon Valley culture hasn’t evolved really. Sure the funding gap for female-run companies is starting to get a little bit better in the Silicon Valley specifically, but everywhere else, it’s not getting better,” she says, “and that’s exactly why we started iFundWomen.”

It's time to disrupt the norm.

We definitely consider her a trailblazer for women in the digital space, and she does too.

Not boastfully, but proudly. And passionately. And with an enthusiasm that is downright contagious.

When only 2%-6% of venture money goes to women and even less than that to women of color, iFundWomen is here to disrupt the norm and close the funding and confidence gaps.

To be clear, it’s not about chest-beating, man-hating females staking their claims.

In fact, it’s just the opposite. “Half of the backers on the platform are men who are excited about the same mission,” says Karen. “iFundWomen is not just a platform, it’s a movement, and it’s going to take all of us working together to get there.”

iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn - Her Data Method Blog
iFundWomen Founder Karen Cahn - Crowdfunding Platform Build Exclusively For Women - CNBC Executive Edge

Data can open up a whole new world.

Karen’s mission and ours here at Virtual Collective are definitely in sync.

Hers is to help women get equal access to not only funding but to the resources and support needed to help them launch their businesses. Ours? Well, we’re excited to help women successfully launch, grow and thrive with the empowerment that data provides.

“Data is SO important! And I love what Virtual Collective is doing because you’re not dumbing it down,” Karen says, with the same level of excitement that we have as well.

Her Data Method Team at iFundWomen Nashville Marketplace Event

“Historically, women have not been encouraged to go into STEM fields where you are trained on how to use data for every decision. We have been encouraged to go into literally any other field other than STEM, fields like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, or even public service, which is fine, but if you demystify the world of numbers and analytics and tools, and make all of that less scary and more approachable, an entirely new world opens up, and the sky’s the limit. I just think that the mission of Virtual Collective is amazing!”

And coming from an amazing woman like Karen Cahn, we will most definitely take that as a compliment!

“Data is SO important! And I love what Her Data Method is doing because you’re not dumbing it down!”

Conclusion

iFundWomen founder Karen Cahn spoke with Melody about what led her to launch a crowdfunding platform for women-led businesses. After completing a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds when launching her first startup she realized how little information, coaching or handholding is available to entrepreneurs in general, let alone female entrepreneurs. The crowdfunding process can be overwhelming without human help and guidance. When she was unable to find the resources that she was looking for she decided to build a crowdfunding platform for women. Now iFundWomen is here to disrupt the norm and close the funding and confidence gaps for companies like ours to launch projects that we thought not previously possible.

Data Matters! HerDataMethod.com Nashville, TN

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Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: crowdfunding, data collection, female founders, iFundWomen, startups, women in business

March 22, 2017 - Melody Jennings Bowers

Why Data Collection Matters: Web Entrepreneur Kevin Murray Weighs In

When Kevin Murray, a California-based entrepreneur, first began his digital career, it was in the late ‘90s at a time when the Internet and all of its potential was widely unrealized. Now, having worked in web development and design for nearly two decades, he has not only seen the evolution of the Internet, he has staked his claim in the digital space. “I was working for Entrepreneur.com (Entrepreneur Magazine) in web development and technical design,” Murray shares, “and working at a place like that, you can’t help but get inspired to start your own business.”

So that’s just what Murray did.

He went full-time freelance, translating the technical knowledge he gained at the agency level into a successful career, and in 2015, he launched KamGraphica, as a boutique web studio based in Long Beach, California. “We build websites that appeal to both people and search engines,” Murray explains of his work. “And we aim to turn our clients’ prospects into customers.”

Educated and Informed Decisions Require Data

He quickly built an impressive client base comprised mostly of referrals, and his company continues to thrive. And he credits data as one of the most crucial components of his success. “The biggest thing is getting the data so you can make educated and informed responses to what’s happening with your investment,” Murray shares. Whether he’s creating a site for a client or developing his own projects, he understands that data collection matters to help guide every decision from how and where to spend your marketing dollars to where to place your social buttons on your homepage. “If you have a campaign on Facebook or analytics for Google, seeing metrics helps you understand your audience and shows you where the efforts need to be applied.”

But simply looking at your Facebook insights or Google analytics, while helpful, doesn’t offer the big picture of how all of your efforts and entities are working together. “To do it one-off makes it hard to understand the overall scope — you have to go to each platform, compile it manually, and it can be time-consuming and time-intensive,” Murray explains. “A dashboard allows you to simplify your data collection in one spot and get the basics in one place.”

If you don’t have a starting point, it’s hard to understand where you need to focus your efforts. That’s why I recommend all small business owners set up their data tracking efforts before they launch their business to set a benchmark.

Most importantly, Murray underscores the fact that time is of the essence. “If you don’t have a starting point, it’s hard to understand where you need to focus your efforts,” he says. “That’s why I recommend all small business owners set up their tracking efforts before they launch their business to set a benchmark.”

Start small. You don’t have to collect ALL the data at once!

One important suggestion Murray offers is to start small. Diving into data and signing up with the big tech tools to pull a bunch of intricate and possibly irrelevant data is not only unnecessary, but it’s also expensive. “I’ve seen people start big, and it’s too much,” he shares. “There are a lot of tools out there, and some are too technical for people just starting out. But if you start small and start to understand the data, then you can move your way up with a more clear understanding of why you need more technical tools.”

Before even that, though, is the need to understand how to begin the data collection process so you can determine which data matters most to your company’s success, which is where Virtual Collective comes in. “There’s a saying in the conference space that content is king. Everyone is looking for the next big piece of content. But I want to say ‘data is king.’ The data side, the SEO, is a very mystifying thing, so people are reserved to spend money on it because it’s not a tangible thing,” Murray explains. “Trying to justify $1,000 a month to services for a ranking that could change next week is hard if you don’t understand the data, so understanding what the data means to the business will help you understand the investment and feel good about the direction your company is heading and the decisions you’re making to get it there.”

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Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: data collection, entrepreneurs, startups, web development

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